Traditional printing devices rely on an electric motor to drive mechanics that advance a print head in a linear direction while another electric motor is used to drive mechanics that advance a print medium in an orthogonal direction. As the print head moves over the print medium an image may be laid down. Complex structures are needed to support these motors and associated drive mechanics. Furthermore, the motors have large power requirements.
Handheld printing devices have been developed that ostensibly allow an operator to manipulate a handheld device over a print medium in order to print an image onto the medium. However, these devices are challenged by the unpredictable and nonlinear movement of the device by the operator. The variations of operator movement make it difficult to determine the precise location of the print head. This type of positioning error may have deleterious effects on the quality of the printed image. This is especially the case for relatively large print jobs, as the positioning error may accumulate in a compounded manner over the entire print operation. Complicated and power-consuming electronics are used to address these issues with varying degrees of success.